Many of the patients that enter a hospital are given an intravenous (IV) catheter for venous access as well as for the administration of fluids, medications, and parenteral nutrition. In the past, it has been common practice to apply tape directly to securely attach the catheter hub and tubing to the patient. However, certain patients have severe allergy to tape/adhesives. Furthermore, elderly, newborn and burn patients have frail or damaged skin that is not conducive to the use of tape to anchor an IV. In some instances, skin is actually removed when the tape is removed.
Previously, some designs have been proposed to alleviate the problem of direct taping. One such design utilizes a stabilizing sleeve having an outer fabric layer with a gauze inner layer that wraps around a patient's appendage and holds the IV needle and tube against the patient's appendage. The sleeve utilizes VELCRO adjacent a seam to removably fasten the sleeve to the appendage. Disadvantages to this are the potential for a tourniquet effect and the inability to view the area proximal to the IV site, not to mention the difficulty and cost in manufacturing it.
Another previously proposed design utilizes bands that wrap around a patient's appendage adjacent the insertion site of an IV catheter. Ends of the bands attach to each other using a hook and loop fastener system such as Velcro®. Catheter tubing is anchored against the bands by using adhesive tape. Thus, the adhesive tape is applied to the bands and not the patient's skin. Some of the disadvantages to this design include: high cost manufacturing, increased risk of a tourniquet effect, inability to observe the sites proximal and distal to the IV catheter insertion site.
Yet another stabilizer design includes a base unit that is placed against the patient's body and includes wing straps having medical adhesive on one side which wrap around and attach to the base unit to secure the device to the patient. A low profile one-piece tub mount is centrally located in the base unit for grasping a tube.
However, none of the prior art of stabilizing devices have a cut-out to allow viewing of the area adjacent the needle insertion site. In addition, the area proximal to the insertion site is covered, therefore, prohibiting surveillance for IV infiltration. In addition, the prior designs lack the use of a disposable, resilient, surgical grade material that is self-adherent but non-adhesive to a patient's skin or hair. Also, the prior art lacks protection from a tourniquet effect because the materials are non-expansile.